David
O. Stewart is passionate about American history. His first three books were all
nonfiction history books. “American Emperor” chronicles Aaron Burr’s attempts
to undermine a fledgling United States and create his own empire. “Impeached:
The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy” takes readers
behind the scenes into the dark world of politics and the real reasons for the
battle for a presidency. “The Summer of 1787” follows the events, deals, and
personalities that ultimately birthed our country’s Constitution.
Stewart
has now undertaken to explore a true mystery taken to the grave. On his
deathbed, John Bingham, the lead prosecutor in the case against the Lincoln
assassination conspirators, claimed Mary Surratt revealed to him a secret that
could shake the republic. Bingham refused to disclose what the woman hanged for
her role in a president’s murder told him. Master storyteller David Stewart
elected to ‘discover’ for himself what that secret might have been, as well as
the secret’s far reaching impact on a nation.
“The
Lincoln Deception” is Stewart’s fictional accounting of the information Bingham
carried into death. In the story set in 1900, Stewart pairs a white small-town
doctor with an African-American ex-baseball player, sending them on the
adventure of their lives. Though the lead characters are fictional, the
impeccable research utilized to tell this story is very real. “The Lincoln
Deception” is a superb melding of fact, mystery, and imaginary ‘what-ifs’ that
blow open the conspiracy shrouds surrounding the murder of a president and the
unseen, dark forces behind the killing.
Maryland
resident David Stewart practiced law for over twenty-five years in Washington,
D.C. His devotion to the constitution led him to argue cases before the United
States Senate and Supreme Court. He is currently working on a nonfiction book
about James Madison.
Q)
You focused your law practice on criminal defense. Why? Surely, the victim’s
rights are as
important to you as the accused’s.
A)
I wish I could report some deep thought on the subject, but it was a simple
decision: I wanted to join the law firm in Washington that had the most
interesting cases I saw anywhere – they defended lots of public officials,
including Richard Nixon, and litigated many constitutional issues. So that
choice put me on the defense side in criminal cases. I occasionally thought
about trying the prosecution side, but I was enjoying my practice too much to
switch.
Q)
“The Lincoln Deception” is about uncovering the truth behind Lincoln’s murder,
about identifying all of the people and reasons. The accounting places the
nation in the ultimate role of victim, and the lead characters find themselves
in the roles of quasi-prosecutors/investigators tasked with bringing additional
criminals into the light. So, how difficult was/is it for you to pursue the
criminals instead of defending them under color of law?
A)
The emotional and intellectual choice was easy! First, I certainly wasn’t
sympathetic to John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators. Moreover, defense
lawyers, particularly in the fraud and corruption cases I handled, spend a lot
of time investigating exactly how something happened and why their client broke
no law. Experience as a defense lawyer is very helpful for investigating a
crime, like the Lincoln assassination, that happened 150 years ago. The defense
has to be resourceful and creative, since it has far fewer tools for
investigation: no policemen, no grand juries, no pretrial subpoena power. Not
that different from doing historical investigation.
Q)
History will always be one of the greatest mysteries. No matter how much we believe
we know, evidence constantly surfaces to question what we have held as truth.
What was the primary thought or concern you wanted to leave with readers in
“The Lincoln Deception”?
A)
The Booth Conspiracy was different. We have had four presidential assassinations.
Three (Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy) involved lone assassins with a single
target, the president. The Booth Conspiracy involved at least ten conspirators
(probably more) who meant to kill at least four targets: Lincoln, Vice
President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William Seward, and General
Ulysses S. Grant. If they had succeeded, it would not have been a mere
presidential assassination. It would have been a coup d’etat.
Q)
For you personally, what is the most intriguing aspect of Lincoln’s
assassination?
A)
The episode that begins The Lincoln Deception: that 35 years after the
assassination, the lead prosecutor, John Bingham, said he learned a secret from
Mrs. Surratt that he never revealed because it could destroy the republic. When
I told friends about that episode, they always demanded, “So, what was the
secret?” But Bingham took the secret to his death. That’s pretty darned
intriguing! I wrote the book to try to figure out that secret.
Q)
As this is your first fiction novel, will we see another?
A)
Absolutely: I’m under contract to write another one. In it, Dr. James Fraser
and former ballplayer Speed Cook will wrestle another historical mystery.
Q)
Having scanned dozens of reader reviews for “American Emperor” it is clear that
your book opened many minds to the turmoil and greed this country had to
overcome before it became settled on its foundation. What impact do you believe
your book on James Madison will have on readers?
A)
Madison is a terribly underappreciated figure. He was a key actor in so many
essential events in the nation’s founding: the Constitutional Convention, the
ratification of the Constitution, the creation of the first federal government,
the Bill of Rights (which he wrote), the creation of political parties, and our
first war as a nation, the War of 1812. It’s an amazing record of achievement,
yet he always seems overshadowed. I hope to explain why this small, quiet,
studious fellow had such an outsized impact on the founding of the world’s
first constitutional democracy.
Q)
Any parting comments for fans and readers new to your work?
A)
Aside from thanks? Stay curious, I guess. It’s a huge world out there, and
books can take you to the most fascinating parts of it.
DA
Kentner is an award-winning author www.kevad.net
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